Non-conviction information

A CRB certificate may contain non-conviction information which is provided by the police from their local records

In addition to disclosing details of any convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer (PNC) that an applicant may have, enhanced CRB checks may also contain ‘approved’ information. This is non-conviction information provided by the police from their local records.

How the decision to release information is made

The Chief Police Officer in each force will decide what, if any, information to provide considering if it is relevant, reasonable and proportionate. The decision to release this information depends on the relevance of the information to the specific position applied for.

If employers wish to use a previously-issued CRB certificate it should not be assumed that no further intelligence exists simply because it has not been disclosed on a particular CRB certificate.

Further information about the portability of CRB checks can be found on the Business Link website.

Will an applicant be able to see the information before it is released?

When the Chief Officer of a police force is considering releasing non-conviction information about an applicant, there may be certain circumstances when the applicant will be given opportunity to make their case for not releasing the information.

This is only applicable in the following circumstances:

• where the information may be regarded as false, unreliable or out of date
• where the outcome is not known
• where the applicant is unaware of the information held by the police and has never had opportunity to challenge it

If an applicant is entitled to make a case for not releasing the information, they will be contacted separately by the police before their CRB check is completed.  Applicants cannot apply to make representations unless they are contacted by the police.

If an applicant chooses to make representations to the Chief Officer, the information they provide will be considered and could result in the information not being released as part of the CRB check.